1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic pneumatic connector, and more particularly to such a connector for the air brake systems of railroad cars.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic coupling devices for interconnecting railroad cars themselves have existed for many years, but connection of the air brake systems of the railroad cars has still required that a person go between each pair of cars and manually couple the air brake systems.
The hazards to a person going between the cars are so great that for many years railroad cars have been required by law to have devices that couple them automatically as they approach each other, and such devices also allow uncoupling without going between the coupled railroad cars. However, the hazards to a person coupling the air brake systems have simply been accepted, even though acknowledged, because of the absence of any dependably succesful automatic pneumatic coupling.
In addition to the hazards involved in the manual coupling of the air brakes systems of railroad cars, considerable time is required for such coupling in "making up" a train with resulting delays in operation of trains and higher labor costs.
An additional problem with the existing railroad air brake coupling systems is that the provision in such systems for automatically uncoupling often allows uncoupling while a train is in motion resulting in an "emergency" application of the brakes with great risk of derailment and other resultant accidents.
While there are existing devices for coupling hoses automatically, automatic coupling by itself is not sufficient since such a device for railroad air brake systems must function independently of the direction the cars to be coupled are headed; that is, the devices must be identical at each end of a car. Furthermore, the automatic coupling must occur even though the coupling devices are not substantially aligned as they initially approach each other. Also, the coupling must be maintained in air-tight interconnection despite substantial relative motion of a pair of interconnected railroad cars due to curves, elevational deflections and changes in load. Finally, an automatic railroad air brake coupling system should provide for automatic uncoupling when coupled cars are separated.